Chelsea have asked Conor Gallagher to return to England as his proposed move to Atletico Madrid risks collapsing at the last minute, according to reports.
The England international's move to the LaLiga club has been in limbo with him having been in Madrid for five days after travelling there to undergo a medical.
A £33.7million move has been agreed between the two clubs, with Gallagher travelling to the Spanish capital after being given permission by Chelsea to do so.
His medical has been completed but Atletico need to offload one of their own players to complete the deal for Gallagher to become a new player in Spain.
Despite being advised he will only be a squad player in new manager Enzo Maresca's side, the Blues have requested Gallagher travels back to England and a flight is set to be booked, as reported by Fabrizio Romano.
Chelsea have asked Conor Gallagher to return to England as his proposed move to Atletico Madrid risks collapsing
Young forward Samu Omorodion was expected to join the Blues after impressing on loan at Alaves before the deal stalled after hitting a bufferon Sunday.
Gallagher had been waiting in Madrid and has yet to sign a contract over personal terms as Atletico try to complete a sale that will fund the midfielder's move.
Chelsea are in talks to bring Portuguese forward Joao Felix back to Stamford Bridge ahead of the start of the new Premier League season.
He previously a short loan spell with Chelsea in 2023 and spent last season at Barcelona.
He netted four Premier League goals from 16 appearances and expressed his 'love' for the Blues but they ultimately opted not to sign him after Atletico demanded £87m to make his move to Stamford Bridge permanent last summer.
At the Catalan club he managed 10 goals in 44 appearances, including seven in La Liga as they finished second behind runaway leaders Real Madrid.
Any ongoing discussions for Felix are separate to talks over Gallagher's future that has now hit a roadblock with the transfer window set to close on August 30.
Should Felix return to Chelsea this summer it will be for a significantly lower fee than the £114m Atletico paid Benfica to bring him to the Metropolitano Stadium in the summer of 2019.
Atletico are believed to be prepared to allow Felix to join the Blues for an initial fee of less than £40m, though he would need to take a significant pay cut to fit into the club's wage structure.